Candice returns to Stanford

Seimone Augustus' shoulder is OK and she's ready to go. So there's no need for an alternate, and Candice returned to Stanford yesterday. Teammate Cappie Pondexter had this to say about it.

The bad news? Well, because Seimone is healthy, Candice Wiggins, who was brought down here as an alternate, left the team to go back to Stanford (I think classes started yesterday). It's not really bad news… it's just sad for her because I know she really wanted to be a part of this group. But Candice is a great person, she's willing to learn, she plays hard and she has a great deal of knowledge for the game. And, believe me, she will have a big part in the success we have in this tournament, because she definitely gave her all for this team while she was around. Good luck and we'll see you soon, CW.

Welcome back, Candice! We're all so proud of you, and can't wait for the season to begin.

Here is Cappie's blog, which is more interesting than USA Basketball articles.

USA FIBA Americas games to be televised

If you have access to NBA TV, you'll be able to watch the USA Women’s FIBA Americas Championship Games. Here is the announcement from USA Basketball, the games schedule and a link to the NBA TV website.

Here is a picture of Candice (wearing her Delta Sigma Theta sweatshirt) being greeted at the airport in Chile by a group that gave the team a show of local music and dance.

Candice and Tara are excited

By: Keith Peters, Palo Alto Online Sports

"I am very excited for this opportunity to be a part of the senior national team," Wiggins said. "It feels great to be traveling with the team and hopefully I can gain a lot of experience from this trip."

"This is a fabulous opportunity for Candice to be a part of the Olympic program. We're very excited for her, but we're ready to have her back!" said Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer.

(More ...)

Candice named as alternate on USA team

USA Basketball today announced the members of the FIBA Americas Championship team.

Candice was named as an alternate and will travel to Chile to train with the squad. Her position rests on the shoulder of Seimone Augustus. Seimone injured her left shoulder in yesterday's game against Australia. It popped out, then popped back in. She will have an MRI today to see if she is healthy enough to play in the FIBA tournament. If not, Candice will replace her.

Here is the announcement from USA Basketball and an account of yesterday's second exhibition game against Australia, which the USA won 70-66.

Television schedule announced

Fox Sports Net has announced its 2007-08 women's basketball television schedule.

Four Stanford home games will be televised: Baylor on Dec 16, Tennessee on Dec 22, Cal on Jan 26, and Arizona State on Feb 16.

Two away games will be televised: Cal on Feb 23 and Arizona State on Jan 20.

(Guess who Fox Sports thinks will be the three top teams in the Pac-10!)

The television scheduling has resulted in changes to game dates/times:

• The away games in Arizona have been reversed. Now it's Arizona on Thursday Jan 17 and ASU on Sunday Jan 20.
• The home games against the arizonas have been reversed. Now it's Arizona on Thursday Feb 14 and ASU on Saturday Feb 16.
• The Cal games are now: home on Saturday Jan 26 and away on Saturday Feb 23.

You can find the current schedule, with links to travel information, on the FBC Events page.

Photos from the USA/Australia game

Sportspage magazine has published a gallery of photos of the USA/Australia basketball game. Here are some of Candice. You can see all of them here.

Candice does a great job in her first USA Basketball game

The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team defeated world champion Australia 96-64 in an exhibition game preceding the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament. Candice, in her first game as a member of the senior team, came off the bench and scored 18 points.

USA head coach Anne Donovan said, "We got a chance to make some good evaluations. Look at Wiggins, she did a great job coming off the bench and really doing a good job on the perimeter for us."

The USA will play another exhibition game against Australia on September 19th before departing for Chile on the 22nd. The USA will name its 12-player roster for the FIBA tournament by the 20th.

The winner of the FIBA tournament will qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

Here are the story and the box score of the exhibition game from USA Basketball and another story from USA Today.

Candice at USA Basketball training camp

The USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team is in New York preparing for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and its ultimate goal: the 2008 Olympic Games.

Senior member DeLisha Milton had this to say about Candice:

We're kind of short as far as guards are concerned. But I think that Candice Wiggins, up-and-coming talent from Stanford, you can see she has a good head on her shoulders. She knows the game well. It's just a matter of her getting acclimated with the type of play that we have here. It's fast-paced, up and down, quick movement, probably not what she's accustomed to in collegiate-level play. They probably slow it down a lot--half-court sets--but she's coming from Stanford, so ... I think that she's a good product.

Here is a story with pictures from Sportspage.com.
Here is a story and a photo gallery from USA Basketball.
Here is another picture of Candice at training camp from the WNBA.

Candice joins USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team

Stanford women's basketball standout Candice Wiggins has been selected as one of five internationally experienced players to join the USA Women's Senior Basketball team, USA Basketball announced today. Wiggins, a senior from San Diego, Calif., becomes the fourth collegiate player named to Team USA, joining Sylvia Fowles (Louisiana State), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma), and Candace Parker (Tennessee).

Here is the rest of the announcement from GoStanford.com.

Here is the announcement from USA Women's Basketball.

Candice now has a shot at her third gold medal of the summer, at the 2007 FIBA Americans Championship for Women in Chile, Sep 26-30.

Stanford to Host USA Senior Women's Basketball Team

Stanford women's basketball fans will have the opportunity to see their home team on the court with the USA's best players this fall, as the Cardinal women's basketball team takes on the 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's Senior National Team at Maples Pavilion Nov. 15 at a time to be announced. The contest will be the finale of Team USA's coast-to-coast, eight-game College Tour that begins Oct. 31.

Here is the rest of the announcement from GoStanford.com.

Here is the announcement from USA Women's Basketball.